In this transgressive, satire-laced debut, a fourteen-year-old boy inherits his family home and the hatred of all those around him as they seek to seize the inheritance from his cold, dead hands. When Agatha Benedict plucked Kelly off the city streets to replace her dead cat Poopsie, she neglected to inform him of some very important house traditions. The history of the Benedict Estate prescribes that once the estate owner passes on, a will reading is to take place. However, the reading is more than passing on a loved one's final wishes; it's a figurative gunshot into the air, an alert to all in attendance that a playful game of anything goes murder has begun. The prize? The inheritance, of course. As if visiting, a storm comes in with the guests, trapping everyone on the property for the night. While Kelly plays catch-up on with house rules, once friendly family members have already sharpened their knives. Try as he might, there is no survival if he won't play by the same rules as everyone else. A uniquely funny and dark murder party with big personalities. A coming-of-age story if growing up felt like being stabbed in the back by everyone you hold dear. As suspenseful as Agatha Christie's   And then There Were None, as bitterly sardonic as  American Psycho , and as slapstick as  Clue, Dead End Drive   is a black comedy and satirical look into the world of nihilism and the rat race of life we all see, but pretend we don't because... Let's be honest: is there anything more valuable than having every last need met for life? Advanced praise for Dead End Drive: "This is a really unique book: it's terrifying but not traumatizing, it's funny but not stupid, it's witty but not attempting to be overly smarter-than-thou. I can't put my finger on it other than to say: read it." - Media Review "This is the best book I've read in a long time. And the best of 2020. Seriously, so damn good. I rarely want to reread books but this is one I will read many times over." - Reader Review "Holy moly where to start with this book. It's filled with dark humor, gory murder, twisted and despicable characters. This book is a touch of Clue, House on Haunted Hill, The Purge and a dash of Haunting of Hill house all smashed together. The writing itself will reel you in and brings the feeling of old school mystery telling with its details and eeriness." - Reader Review "The large ensemble cast of characters bring a lot to the table. There's a lot to hate ( in the best way - Kirkpatrick has created a cast that I loved to hate! ) and even more to love. From the bitter old groundskeeper with a garden full of broken hearts to a murderous tennis player with enough pent up rage to level an entire city. Each character felt well thought through and fleshed out, which isn't always easy to accomplish with a big cast! I quickly developed a handful of favorites, as well as a select few that I desperately wanted to see picked off." - Reader Review "I also enjoyed the author's care in making sure that every character was three-dimensional and had clear motivations. Bertrand was an intriguing character to read about, and Angus was a joy to read. Johnny came across as the sort of beautiful airhead villain we love to hate, and Alex is beautifully twisted." - Reader Review "If Agatha Christie was a serial killer this would be her book." -- Reader Review Ian Kirkpatrick is a speculative and dark comedy author with interesting credentials: graduate with an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Tampa and a BA in Theater from the University of Alaska Anchorage. She's lived in a high desert, the frozen tundra, and the subtropics, so, she's got most extreme climates covered. The things she writes can be as dramatically different as the places she's lived, though she tends the most toward black comedy and speculative fiction. She's worked on novels, short stories, stageplays, and screenplays. In 2020, she was published by the Florida Writers Association in their anthology called, "Create an Illusion."